The Clouds Open Up At "The Sky Show"

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"The Sky Show" marks my first exhibition in New Mexico since relocating here last year. The show opened April 1 and runs through May 4 at one of Santa Fe's most popular establishments, Counter Culture Cafe. The show features 27 cloudscapes, skyscapes, and aerial views of all colors and sizes in a variety of media.

Huge thanks to Counter Culture owner, Jason Aufrichtig, for the opportunity to get my feet wet in the Santa Fe art scene and to all the friends and new collectors who supported the show. Special thanks to my wife, Rachel, for her tireless belief in me and my work. Scenes from Opening Night (including 8 red dots!) are here for your viewing pleasure.

This place is bustling pretty much every day
and it happens to be my favorite restaurant in Santa Fe!

The feature walls of "The Sky Show"

Me with Counter Culture owner, Jason,
and the latest addition to his art collection, Aero No. 13

Olivia and Vicki checking out the skies!

See more of these 5x7's at http://bit.ly/30Paintings

Aerial views: Aero No. 33 (left) and Aero No. 30 (right)

Rachel and me. :)

We love red dots!

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The Creation of A Spanish Cityscape

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This week I started my newest painting featuring Toledo, Spain. I visited there in 2012 and was moved by its hilltop setting, its distinct architecture, and the fact that Toledo was the adopted home town of El Greco, one of my favorite painters. Unlike cloudscapes, cityscape paintings require a bit more thought and planning before adding color as evidenced in the photo and time lapse below.

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The Launch of A New Mexico Cloudscape (Part I)

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This week I embark on a journey to create the largest oil painting I've attempted to date.

Am I ready? Yes. Feeling some trepidation? Um, yeah. Curious to see what happens next? You bet!

Here are some shots of me prepping the raw birch panel for conversion into a big, beautiful, cloud-filled Aeroscape.

The Source: An Afternoon of Dynamic Clouds Over Santa Fe

Sanding the 47" x 70" birch panel that will be the foundation for Aero No. 28. 

Applying the final coat of tinted Liquitex Gesso to the panel.

Primed and on the wall. The beginning of Aero No. 28 (Santa Fe Cloudscape) 

A little grid help to help keep the drawing on point. I am pretty precise with the prep, the drawing, the paint color mixing, BUT…once the paint starts to hit the panel, it becomes an expressive, liberating free-for-all.

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Inside The Artist Studio: Shauna Finn

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Meet Shauna Finn (www.shaunafinn.com).

Shauna's studio is in Jersey City, NJ just across the Hudson. We met at the International School of Art in Umbria, Italy during the summer of 2001. A Southern California native, Shauna made her way East to study at the New York Academy of Art shortly after I relocated to California from NYC in 2003. The dramatic evolution of her work since getting to NY has been amazing to watch. Her style and technique echo classical teachings, but her subject matter and concepts are purely contemporary.

What a space! If you're gonna have windows, they must be floor to ceiling.

A perfect setup to work big.

My personal favorite. 

Thank you, Shauna, for kicking off a great series of studio visits in NYC. Keep up the fantastic work.

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LA Artist Takes Manhattan

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Meet Kelly Reemtsen (www.kellyreemtsen.com).

I've known Kelly, a Los Angeles-based artist, since 2004. She exemplifies the working artist life and has been a role model and inspiration for my art career.

I was thrilled to find out that her latest show, "America's Sweetheart", opened at the De Buck Gallery (www.debuckgallery.com) at the same time I was visiting NYC. So proud of her and in awe of Kelly's productivity, the quality of the concept of her series, and the execution of the paintings themselves. See for yourself…

Busy night at De Buck in Chelsea on a chilly Manhattan night!

With my date, Rachel! :) We're both huge fans of Kelly's work. 

Up close, you'd swear she paints with frosting. 

Catching up with the star of the show and friends.

My personal favorite. That orange…amazing!

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